Irresponsible reporting in light of the Sandy Hook tragedy

My heart goes out to Newtown, CT tonight. Reports are coming in that a 20 year old Newtown native was the perpetrator. News site The Atlantic Wire makes a strong note of the fact that the perpetrator was (possibly) autistic. It also mentions that autism is a "personality disorder", which is false. The Business Insider calls the shooter developmentally disabled. What is worrying is that they are using this to make sense of this individual's horrific act. Isn't this irresponsible reporting? No doubt that the perpetrator was disturbed, but a) using unconfirmed facts b) implying that autism or developmental disabilities causes people to become violent is completely inaccurate, not to mention wrong.

This is not responsible. It is horrible and offensive. This is in no way the typical or expected behavior of anybody, let alone the behavior of an entire neurological disorder. They will find no facts relating this awful deed to autism, but that won't stop them from reporting it.

That's what troubles me. What it conveys to people who do not know what autism is. Papers will do anything to sell a story, regardless of whether or not the facts are correct. It's troubling and unethical.

I saw this myself and I said, "Here we go". Be prepared for a parade of non facts, speculation and outright offensive statements by people who have less than half a clue about anything and are trying to sell fear.

The media just saw this as yet another chance to cash in on the autism craze.

This is beyond exhausting. For those of us who have to deal not only with the negative effects of developmental disorders but also the day-to-day consequences of thinking in a fundamentally different way from the rest of society, the last thing our community needs is the kind of lynch-mob mentality that events like this always seem to bring out, especially if it's directed at us.